Whilst Israel may be a fact on the ground, should its expansionist and oppressive activities be condoned by the international community? Israel continues to misappropriate more land from Palestinians, ignores UN resolutions, continues its illegal occupation of the West Bank, Shebaa Farms and Golan Heights and indulges in apartheidism within its paradoxically non-existent borders. Israel’s excesses do not benefit the countries of the west which support it, but make them a target for extremism.
Here’s a Jewish site which denounces Zionism.
“It must be stated explicitly that while not all Jews are Zionists, not all Zionists are Jews. The motives of some of these non-Jewish Zionists, e.g. Lord Balfour and General Smuts, are at least open to question. From the beginning of the Zionist movement, some of the most articulate and fervent Zionists have been Christian clergymen, especially “fundamentalists,” who hail Zionism as an important “religious” movement and welcome it as a fulfillment of prophecy. They also, and significantly, serve the cause of Zionism.
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A former president of the World Zionist Organization has stated explicitly that a Zionist owes unqualified loyalty to the Zionist state and that, in the case of a conflict, the first loyalty of a Zionist must be to the Zionist state. According to Jewish law, however, a Jew owes allegiance and loyalty to the country of which he is a citizen, and, of course, no faithful Jews owes any loyalty or allegiance to the Zionist state which has been condemned by the foremost rabbis of our age. It is not my purpose to detail how Zionism should be dealt with. Let me state, however, that isolated or spontaneous acts against individuals or the mere adoption of resolutions in the UN or elsewhere are not effective means of bringing an end to Zionism. Let me state also that the battle against Zionism must be waged first, not on the shores of the Mediterranean, but in Zionism’s most powerful bastion — the USA.”
Some more Jewish sites which reject Zionism are:
http://www.nkusa.org/
“Zionism is not only a denial of the Torah’s fundamental basics concerning exile and redemption, but seeks to create tensions with other nations. This is particularly obvious in Palestine where the Israeli government has stolen from the Palestinian people the most basic human dignity of self determination. We decry, in the strongest of terms, the horrific Zionist atrocities which have just taken place in Bait Hanun, the ongoing oppression of Gaza, the subjugation of the Arab people in the West Bank and the entire Palestine. We will not forget what Olmert and his vigilantly State has perpetrated against Lebanon. The list goes endlessly on.”
http://www.jewsagainstzionism.com/ – this website documents how Zionism promotes anti-semitism.
“It has been the age-old intention of Zionism to intentionally stir up anti-Semitism anywhere possible, and even more commonly, to take advantage of any Jewish suffering anywhere in order to enhance its cause Indeed, hatred of Jews and Jewish suffering is the oxygen of the Zionist movement, and from the very beginning has been to deliberately incite hatred of the Jew and then, in feigned horror, use it to justify the existence of the Zionist state = this is, of course, Machiavellianism raised to the highest degree. Thus, the Zionists thrive on hatred and suffering of Jews, and seek to benefit thereby through keeping Jews in perpetual fear, causing them to ignore the true nature of Zionism, and instead to consider the Zionist state is their salvation.”
Tanya Reinhart has a convoluted liberal zionist view:
“Elmer: I want to talk to you about the political uses of anti-Semitism. Tel Aviv University has published a report entitled Anti-Semitism Worldwide wherein it claims: “The barriers between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism have been lifted and the two merged.” What are your thoughts on conflating anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism?
Reinhart: I haven’t seen the specific report, but the claim is of course very widespread. Usually the source of this claim that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism is Israeli propaganda, and its very well-oiled branches of the pro-Israel lobby across the world.
The supposition in this claim is that if you look at Israel’s behaviour, it is essentially alright: it is a country defending itself, and it is doing what is necessary to defend itself – there isn’t anything peculiar about it. Therefore there must be some hidden reason why people criticize Israel and object to Israel’s acts in the Territories, and what could that reason be if not anti-Semitism? The reason that it is picked on is because it can work – given that there was, and is, anti-Semitism, given the horrible history of the Jewish people, people do have fears of anti-Semitism.
But I don’t like the term anti-Zionism to define opposition to Israeli policies, because Zionism – the way it is perceived by most Israelis – is that Jews are entitled to a State of their own. It is the liberation and self-determination of the Jewish people motivated by the Holocaust and their fate in exile.
The trouble is not exactly with Zionism, but with the Israeli leadership and the way Zionism has been executed, based on ethnic cleansing from the very start. I believe it was possible to reach the same goal [of Jewish self-determination] with much less loss and sacrifice for the Palestinian people.
It is not part of having your own state that it must be based on striving to grab more and more of your neighbour’s land, or depriving minorities of their rights – this is the Israeli military system’s implementation of the idea of Zionism. So I believe what we should say is that we are against Israel – meaning Israel’s acts and the policy of its leadership, and against the Occupation, and leave the question of Zionism aside.”